Game reviews – Page 7 – Savior Gaming

Vaesen: Castle of Gyllencreutz

As some of you may be aware, not long Free League Publishing sent me a PDF of their Starter set for Vaesen. If you want more details about what is in that, you can read about it here. A few weeks after that, I got home from work to a package on my doorstep, and it was the physical version of that same starter set and the core rule book. Now it is an excellent starter set, but I got to wondering, can someone with no experience playing this game, truly get a group together and play this game? So I gathered the women in my life together, a case of our prefered alchol, and got started.

Beautiful cover art for the core rule book. I didn’t use this for my experiment

The first thing I did was have everyone blindly choose one of the 5 playable characters that the set came with. My daughter decided to play as a rugged Soldier named Fronz who couldn’t read. I don’t know why she decided he couldn’t read, but I just went with it. The other ladies chose the 2 ladies in the group; they have names, but admittedly, that isn’t important. By not important, I mean I forgot their names.

Now, the Castle of Gyllemcreutz story that comes with the set is a great starting point that introduces you to the basics of the game. I don’t want to get too in-depth with what is involved with this story because it is easy to give too much away. Much of the story involves investigating a large castle to find clues on how to solve the mystery involving ghostly lights and missing people.

Dice rolls are all based on rolling a D6; players need to roll a certain number of 6’s to succeed. How many completely depends on how difficult the task is. There is also very little combat in this module, but the person running it could easily change that if they chose to. Nothing is stopping them, and all the information needed to do it is included.

But how did my players do? Well, they never were confused on how to play; they made their way through the castle with very little coaching besides trying to get them to stop goofing off, and the big finale of the whole thing was figured out before we figured out how to finish off a case of alcohol in 2 hours between the 4 of us.

I would absolutely say this starter kit provides everything you need to get you started playing Vaesen with limited or no experience. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

Remember when you got hyped seeing the iconic headline “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away,” followed by the legendary boom of John William’s score that promised adventure, new worlds, and the unforgettable yet simple clash of good vs evil? Depressed yet? I went back to the good old days to experience a classic (before the dark times, before the real Empire came) for the first time.

We play as Jaden, one of many young force sensitives on our way to Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy. As an upcoming Jedi, we go across the galaxy in various missions fighting the last remnants of the Empire as well as the looming threat of a Sith cult trying to revive a ancient god-level, forging our own path as either a Guardian of peace or weapon of the dark side. What will you choose?

I’ve lost lost count how many people have told me either Academy or Jedi Outcast were their favorite Star Wars games and honestly, I can see why. The game is peak Star Wars in so many ways, full of the characters, weapons, locations and music we love. The story isn’t too complicated but effective with diverging paths I appreciated for some replayability. Most of the gameplay holds up remarkably well in places. The FPS features hold up very well and combining guns with force powers can be a blast at time. The saber combat definitely takes some getting used to but it does become intoxicating once you do. Academy and Outcast walked so Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order could run. I do also appreciate you getting to customize not only your lightsaber but your style, whether single, dual wield, or double bladed (I went green and orange dual wield).

Unfortunately, this game does show its age in many ways. The game has some really unpredictable difficulty spikes. There’s moments towards the end that pissed me off because dirty enemy placement, obtuse pathfinding, or bullshit environmental deaths. You’d better get used to manually saving because their are checkpoints, but they’re sporadic and sometimes dying means a hell of a fall back and a long stretch of progress gone. Younger gamers will also hate that there’s no map, waypoints, autosaves, tutorials, and a loose reminder of your current objective. There’s one mission though that absolutely killed the entire game for me- the damn speeder bike mission. It’s nearly unplayable. The bike is nearly uncontrollable, the game clips out between speed and slow- mo, there’s a jump that killed me too many times. I almost rage-quit the whole game because of that one level alone.

In the end, Jedi Academy is a fun blast from the past for Star Wars fans. A nice reminder of better times, before the era of the Mouse set in. It definitely has it’s faults and shows its 20+ year age but with patience, a little help from Youtube, and your favorite booze for that damn speeder bike level, you’ll get through. I recommend picking it up for a good time overall. May the Force be with you and the gaming gods bring you glory.

Forever Skys PS5 Review

Forever Skys was released by Far From Home earlier this year on consoles after being in early access on Steam. They were nice enough to send me a copy recently to check out, and I have to say it is one of the more original survival games I have played.

All the typical survival types are here: gather food and water so you don’t die, build a bed so you can sleep. The usual suspects. Even having a special gun and scanner to discover new things to build isn’t new. It is all very well done, however, which is important.

What is new, however, is that instead of building just a base somewhere, you are building an airship. Yes, it is fully functional, needs engines and fuel, etc, to fly, and you will fly it yourself. It can be damaged, and you can fall off of it. You also gather food by fishing off the side of it.

The game really picks up when you have to find bigger and better things in the underworld. See, the game does have a story, and that story is basically to save humanity. And while you are pretty much safe while flying through the sky on your ship, traveling below the clouds is when it gets dangerous. This will require special preparation, because most things down there want you dead.

This brings me to my only real complaint about the game: getting around can be annoying if you are an idiot like me and don’t put the radar somewhere easy to see while flying. Don’t worry, I fixed it. Even then, a lot of the map looks the same regardless of where you go, and I just wish there was some sort of variety. The game is still an 8/10 survival game, and the ability to build and fly a ship from the start is nice. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Demonschool Playstation 5 Review

DemonSchool from Developer Necrosoft Games and publisher Ysbryd Games is a tactical RPG, and proudly wears its Persona and Italian horror roots on its sleeve. Thankfully, they sent me a copy to check out.

The combat is interesting; unlike most of these games, you won’t simply be moving a few squares, choosing an attack, gaining levels, and learning new skills. Every character simply knows the attacks they will know. You, of course, can learn new skills throughout the game, but these work like buffs. Your healer learns to weaken enemies, or your attackers can learn to also stun enemies, things like that.

Killing enemies will see them explode into blood

The other interesting thing about the combat is that you move in directions, not to spaces. This may sound odd at first, but it works out very well and creates an interesting dynamic. This becomes even more true when you realize characters like Namako will move through a group of enemies, stunning them just to end up on the other side of them. Faye can then attack that same group and create a combination attack with Namako.

Bosses create an entirely new situation, however. They are all very large and have their own gimmicks to overcome. Many, if you stay in a certain zone for too long, will kill you in a single shot. This works in both directions, however, and trapping an enemy there will also kill them. Each boss has their own reason for existing and is part of the story attached to them.

Now you will notice I haven’t touched on the story yet, and that is intentional, as I don’t like to risk spoilers. You play as Faye, probably one of the only people left in the world who knows about a prophecy that demons will return to start the apocalypse. She journeys to this college on an island in an attempt to stop it. She teams up with Namako right away, another person with demon hunter blood in her family, despite her initial refusal. There are several tone shifts throughout the game, and they are all amazing.

The writing can be a bit cliché and silly at times, and it won’t be for everyone. The game, however, is a solid 8/10. The battles can be a bit redundant, but I enjoyed them. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

JDM: Japanese Drift Master

JDM: Japanese Drift Master has finally come to Xbox after being long available on Steam, and Gaming Factory was nice enough to send me a copy to check out. First thing I have to say is the game is beautiful. There is just no way around that fact. The map is based on real-world Japan, and just driving around it, you can see the inspiration and even some real-world places. Just driving around, drifting for no reason, can be fun. The cars themselves are some of the best I have seen in a video game.

The story itself plays out in Manga-style cutscenes. Don’t worry if you have never read one; the game has a handy help system for that. This, I thought, was a nice touch and really just steered into the Japanese aesthetic. More games really need to do this, I think.

All of that truly doesn’t mean much if the controls aren’t good. As someone who isn’t huge on racing games but has played some, they are fantastic. You have two different modes to choose from. A more arcade-style for an easier beginner person, and a sim mode where pretty much all the help options are disabled. This makes the game more approachable for everyone.

Now, some of you may be wondering, does the game support steering wheels? The answer is no. It was designed for a controller and does not support steering wheels. This may be a deal breaker for some of you, and I understand that. I do find it odd myself, considering it is a single-player game and they don’t have to worry about someone having an advantage in multiplayer.

At the end of the day, it is a 9/10 racing game. Drift fans will love it, many of whom have long waited for their chance to play this game that has been trapped on Steam. Is it easy? No, there is a ton to learn and get used to. But it is beautiful and fun to play. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Duskpunk Steam Review

Duskpunk is inspired by tabletop games and is definitely a mature title, not because of its visuals, but because of the images that will spring to mind by the words on the screen. Sent to me by Clockwork Bird, this title is not for the faint of heart. It is both challenging and grotesque in how it plays how, and I mean this in the best way possible.

My first play-through saw me as a soldier, missing part of my memory nursing an injured leg that I would soon lose. Struggling to survive and even find food in a world at war that didn’t care. I won’t go too deep into specifics, but suffice it to say, even the clergy offered me drugs to help me get by and ease my suffering. Every choice is life or death at times, from gambling in hopes of gathering enough money to eat to choosing where to sleep.

There are some downsides, however, while the story is fantastic and every character I came across is interesting and well thought out, dice rolls can be brutal even on the easiest setting. The game seems to be built on making you fail since many even simple decisions require multiple dice rolls to succeed, but only one to fail. Even a small injury to a stat can be game-ending. I don’t say this to discourage anyone, but gathering resources while racing against the clock and fighting dice rolls won’t be for everyone. After multiple play-throughs, I am still enjoying the game, but I can understand why some people would not.

This is one of those games that fans of this genre need to check out. For example, if you enjoyed Citizen Sleeper, you will likely enjoy this as well. However, if you don’t like games like this, I don’t see this being the game that changes your mind on the genre. At a price point of $20, it is an 8/10 that fans of the genre should’t miss. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Skyformer Early Acess Review

Skyformers is a game where you play as a robot, sent to an inhospitable world by your creators to terraform it to their liking. It was also sent to me by a solo developer, Weatherfused, which is always appreciated.

The premise is quite simple. You build small things to mine things like iron, and small factories turn that iron into something usable, and drones to take that iron from the mine to the factory. You can then use that iron to make other things that will keep your little robot alive, or help you mine other resources and build bigger and better things, and that will help you make the planet more livable for the creators that sent you.

This obviously doesn’t make the game easy. Terraforming a planet is a nightmare in theory, and doing it in a game logistically, while much easier, still requires you to think through the process in great detail. The number of times I forgot something simple, which brought my entire system to a grinding halt, is more than one.

The art style is also nice; it’s cute and simple, but it won’t drag your PC down trying to run it. I appreciate this because it seems like everyone is busy seeing if something can be done as opposed to asking if it should be done. This art style serves this type of game well. Watching the storms roll through my base was still a treat.

Another nice little treat, the lack of having to deal with all the damn belts. It’s nice to have a futuristic game that lets me just fly materials around instead of messing with conveyor belts.

Normally, I would list some bad things about the game here, and I am happy to do so. But honestly, they are really more about my preferences. For example, if you build things up too high in altitude, according to some reviews, they get destroyed once you get so far along in the forming process. I didn’t experience this, but the game should really mention that. I also hate that I can’t simply teleport between ground level and my little air station directly. I understand why from a story point, but it is still annoying.

More importantly, I never experienced any weird crashes or bugs, and while the game may not be as fun as, say, Factorio to me, it is definitely more user-friendly. It is also a 7/10 experience, and fans of the genre will probably find it worth the $18. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Pigeon Simulator Xbox Review

Pigeon Simulator on Xbox is an interesting game sent my way by the people over at TinyBuild. I always love working with them and appreciate the game. The concept is built on the joke conspiracy theory that pigeons aren’t real and are essentially government spy cameras. To build on this, you play as a pigeon that works as a government agent who protects the world from supernatural threats.

Yes, those books are flying, yes, they are dangerous. No, you can not read them.

After a quick tutorial on how to spot these ghostly threats and how to deal with them, for example, how to poop on them or how to use gadgets to lower the chaos meter, the game thrusts you into missions to find haunted objects to bring back to a specific spot to earn money as a reward. This money is used to buy upgrades or items to help in missions. Speaking of future missions, once you fail a mission, everything resets.

The game functions decently enough, the controls aren’t great, and neither are the graphics, but they also aren’t bad. It is all just average. There are just a few things you need to know when playing this game. First, don’t bother playing it solo. It can be done, but it is not fun, by any measure of the definition of fun. You will need at least one friend to find any real enjoyment here, but preferably at least two.

The second thing you need to know, this entire game’s existence is really just based around the idea that you and your friends are going to screw around, collect objects, and have a good laugh. If you and the group you play with are the type to take everything super seriously, you probably will not have a good time. Not that taking games seriously is wrong by any means, that just isn’t what this game is made for. You are a pigeon crapping on people and using a grappling hook to haul haunted objects to an extraction point. Clearly, this isn’t a game made for serious people.

Is it worth $15? For some people, it will be. With the right friends, there is some fun to be had here; it is a decent 6/10 title. Just be aware that, without friends to play with, the game is best avoided. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel Playstation 5 Review

Before I get too far into my review, I do have to give a huge shout-out to Grindstone for tossing me a PS5 copy of Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel to enjoy. The game has been out for a bit, but they still threw me one. There is a huge update coming out on December 4th to the PC and Console versions called The Fall of Alfheim. It will add all sorts of new things, such as a new realm, a new god, and even a new class. If all that wasn’t enough to give you a hint, the game is fantastic. But keep reading anyway, I worked hard on this.

The first thing to know is that the game has a story; you can absolutely ignore it. Just like in all these horde survival games, one exists but there are bare bones. This time around, I actually suggest paying attention to it. It takes place in a dark Viking underworld, and you battle your way through mountains of enemies with the help of Norse gods. Each god offers up special powers and perks, such as Thor lending you Mjolnir and lightning powers. Each run unlocks stones you can use to unlock new powers from the gods, or permanent upgrades from them that apply to all of your characters.

These same stones can also be used to apply upgrades or unlock new powers for specific characters. I personally would wait to do this until you discover your favorite, as the god powers are far more universal and helpful until you decide who you want to spend more time with. While there are an infinite number of upgrades you can unlock, this does take time.

Won’t pretend the kinslayer isn’t badass and my favorite

Each level has multiple difficulties and its own set of modifiers you can unlock. This leads to a ton of replay value, and once you unlock insane difficulty and all the modifiers, you can practically customize your experience anyway you choose. Want enemies to return from the dead? Feel free. Want to act like a coward and make runs super easy? There is a modifier for that. (Seriously it calls you out for it)

Unlike many of these games, it isn’t as simple as surviving for 10 or 15 minutes. The goal isn’t to survive a set amount of time at all; the timer is actually a countdown. You have that amount of time to complete a set number of missions and summon the boss. (Don’t worry, once he is summoned, you can fight it as long as you need to.) This is a nice change of pace from the usual setup.

Truly, if I had any complaints about this game, it’s that unlocking the actual weapons for everyone is a huge hassle, and half of the outfits are locked behind DLC. This wouldn’t be so bad if there were more outfits, but there is such a limited number that I feel forced to buy them if I want anything other than a very basic look. This doesn’t take away from the overall enjoyment of the game; the outfits have no real purpose outside of cosmetics, but I am pretty sure I will never try the majority of the weapons because of how big of a hassle it is to unlock new ones.

Is the game worth buying? Absolutely. It is still a 9/10 experience, one of the few must-buy games of this genre I have played. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Spell Brigade Steam Review

The Spell Brigade was kindly sent my way by Bolt Blaster Games and is an online co-op survival horde game. Think Vampire Survivors with magic and wizards. You can unlock a few different little wizards and dress them in fun, different outfits. Don’t worry, this is done by doing things in-game. You won’t be harassed by a dozen different pop-ups when you start the game, screaming buy our premium currency. In my first run, I unlocked two new outfits, and I wasn’t even sure how to play.

The gameplay itself is simple to learn, so simple in fact, you walk around and let your wizard kill things while you collect experience. As you level up, you can learn new spells and passive abilities. Which you choose is completely up to you, of course. I did find some are better than others. Especially when objectives start to pop up. These were simple things, sometimes like finding and killing a specific enemy, and others it was to roll these balls to a location before time expired. I hated that one. Nothing truly bad happens if you fail; you just lose out on some experience.

From a functional standpoint, I never ran into any issues. Playing with random people was simple; I never got disconnected, for example. Graphically, the game is solid and free from any glitches, and the sound is about what you would expect for a game that costs $10. My only real issue is, I never found the game to be fun. It was a pretty slow pace, and the enemies just sort of felt the same. Except for the rampaging bulls that occasionally come across the screen, and when they do, your only real option is to find a gap they leave or die almost instantly when they hit you. This feels like a pretty cheap mechanic for a game such as this.

I will add this caveat to my review. I am in the minority with this opinion. With almost 10 thousand reviews on Steam, it is sitting at very positive reviews, and while I did not enjoy my time with the game, most other people do. The game is a 6/10 for me, but don’t take my word for it. Try the demo out before making a choice. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.